Group A news
Ta-Ta Thailand
Australians end dream of place in quarter-finalsPublished on July
17, 2007
Australia squeezed into the second round of the Asian Cup
tournament following a 4-0 drubbing of hosts Thailand in their
Group A encounter at Rajamangala National Stadium yesterday.
It was a remarkable turnaround by pre-tournament favourites
Australia given that an early elimination was staring in their
faces before the game after they could only claim a point from
their previous two matches.
With their backs against the wall, Graham Arnold's men, who had
previously looked a shadow of the side that nearly dumped eventual
champions Italy in last year's World Cup, managed to recapture
their form in what was the most perfect time to seal the result
they needed for qualification.
The hosts might curse their luck for having to face the Aussies in
the last match when they were on the verge of qualifying for the
quarter-finals of the continent's top competition for the first
time since 1972. The scenario Thai fans most feared turned into
reality as the beleaguered Aussies staged a timely and miraculous
recovery from the brink.
The result left Australia level on points with Thailand but
Arnold's side clinched the qualification thanks to their better
head-to-head record.
The Australians join Iraq, who topped the group despite a draw with
Oman in the group's other match, in the last eight.
Having witnessed his side flounder in their last hurdle to make
history, coach Chanvit Pholchivin was left bemoaning their
luck.
"Not disappointed much, this is a football game. The rain made it
difficult for us. Our centre-half [Kiatprawut Saiwaeo], who is good
in high balls, was injured so it was hard for us," said
Chanvit.
"We messed up our scoring chances. Australia are lucky that there
was rain and our good player was injured. The game was quite close
but when we conceded a goal, everything became terrible. No matter
what we tried, it didn't go right."
Chanvit's men approached the game in high spirits on the back of
their impressive performances, which saw them register their first
ever victory in regular time over Oman, a convincing 2-0 triumph,
on Thursday.
After an eye-catching performance in the Oman match, in which he
was the architect of both the goals, young star striker Teeratep
"Leesaw" Winothai earned his place in the line-up.
Leesaw and Suchao Nutnum were a couple of alterations Chanvit made
to the side that faced Oman. They came in place of veteran Terdsak
Jaiman and Datsakorn Thonglao.
With Leesaw and Kiartisak "Zico" Senamuang up front, Sutee
Suksomkit reverted to the role of left-side midfielder, the
position the experienced forward had previously adopted.
The visitors brought in John Aloisi, who came in place of Liverpool
star Harry Kewell, to join Mark Viduka.
The heavy rains, which fell hours before the kick off, barely
dampened the spirits of the home fans as they turned up at the
stadium in large numbers. The 40,000-strong crowd created an
electric atmosphere, with sounds of drums and bugles reverberating
around the venue, befitting the game, which was branded as one of
the most important matches in Thai football.
Just two minutes into the match, the warning bell rung for the Thai
team when Viduka found space inside the penalty box and fired an
angled shot that forced a good save from Thai goalie Kosin
Hathairattanakul, who parried it behind.
Chanvit's side, however, almost opened the scoring in bizarre
fashion six minutes later when Sutee attempted to cross the ball
but his effort nearly crept into the top far corner, with keeper
Mark Schwarzer already out of position.
Midfielder Tawan Sripan warmed Schwarzer's hands soon after with a
fierce 35-yard free-kick, which required two attempts from the
Aussie custodian to gather the ball.
Just before the half way of the opening period, the partisan crowd
was silenced when burly Australian defender Michael Beauchamp
thumped a powerful header from a David Carney free-kick into the
back of the net.
The setback failed to rattle the home team as they quickly regained
their composure. Moments later, the Thai team threatened the
visitors twice, with Suchao first testing with a long-distance
attempt, and later Zico failing to connect Sutee Sukha's dangerous
cross at the goal mouth.
The home team finished the half strongly and got another scoring
chance on the stroke of half-time but Sutee sent his set piece
harmlessly wide.
Thailand picked up where they left off in the first half and pushed
the Aussies on the back foot after the restart, knowing a draw
would be sufficient to see them through to the last eight.
In the 53rd minute, the hosts thought they should have awarded a
penalty. Schwarzer spilled Leesaw's venomous drive from outside the
box and Zico was brought down when he pounced on the rebound but
the referee waved play on.
Ten minutes from time, the Australians scored again when Viduka
produced a piece of brilliance. The former Middlesbrough striker
chested the ball down, held off his marker before firing a rising
drive which deflected into the roof of the net as Suree tried to
block the shot.
Any hopes of an unlikely comeback were extinguished three minutes
later when substitute Tim Cahill floated in a delightful cross to
Viduka who leapt above the Thai defence to plant a downward header
into the net, much to the joy of a large group of travelling
fans.
Substitute Kewell wrapped up the scoring in stoppage time with a
clinical finish when he latched onto Cahill's defence-splitting
pass and raced into the area on the right side before firing the
ball past helpless Kosin.
In Hanoi, defending champions Japan advanced to the Asian Cup
quarter-finals in style with an easy 4-1 win over co-hosts Vietnam
who also went through for the first time in nearly half a
century.
JEF United forward Seiichiro Maki headed home twice, Shunsuke
Nakamura found the net and Yasuhito Endo added another to give
Japan their second straight win after a dismal 1-1 opening draw
with Asian Games gold medallists Qatar.
Vietnam, playing in their first Asian Cup finals for 47 years, have
stunned everyone with their performances here and with the United
Arab Emirates beating Qatar 2-1 in the other group B match, they
make the last eight. "We were nervous at the outset and our
opponents were aggressive. Lucky or not, we were able to catch up
early in the game and it made our life easier," Japan coach Ivica
Osim said. Despite the defeat, Vietnamese coach Alfred Riedl was
over the moon.
"It is a sensation for Vietnamese football," said the Austrian.
"Only very few people had expected this."
Kitinan Sanguansak
The Nation
